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<a name="Multiple-Stow-Directories-1"></a>
<h2 class="chapter">9 Multiple Stow Directories</h2>

<p>If there are two or more system administrators who wish to maintain
software separately, or if there is any other reason to want two or more
stow directories, it can be done by creating a file named <samp>.stow</samp>
in each stow directory.  The presence of <samp>/usr/local/foo/.stow</samp>
informs Stow that, though <samp>foo</samp> is not the current stow
directory, even if it is a subdirectory of the target directory,
nevertheless it is <em>a</em> stow directory and as such Stow
doesn&rsquo;t &ldquo;own&rdquo; anything in it (see <a href="Installing-Packages.html#Installing-Packages">Installing Packages</a>).  This will
protect the contents of <samp>foo</samp> from a &lsquo;<samp>stow -D</samp>&rsquo;, for instance.
</p>

<p>When multiple stow directories share a target tree, if a tree-folding
symlink is encountered and needs to be split open during an
installation, as long as the top-level stow directory into which the
existing symlink points contains <samp>.stow</samp>, Stow knows how to split
open the tree in the correct manner.
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